1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic switching memory device that permits writing and rewriting and in which organic material is employed, and to a memory apparatus or the like having the memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, research and development has vigorously pursued developing functional devices or electronic elements employing organic material. Examples of conventional memory devices employing organic materials include, for example, a mask ROM (Read Only Memory) that utilizes an organic diode as disclosed by Japanese Patent Kohyo No. 2001-516964. Because the memory device does not permit electrical writing, the use of the memory device is limited to a mask ROM and the memory element cannot therefore be applied to a memory device that is capable of performing electrical writing or rewriting operations.
Furthermore, examples of other memory devices include the memory device disclosed by Japanese Patent Kokai No. 08-116109. The memory device utilizes a material which changes in resistance in accordance with the application of a voltage and retains the resistance value even upon removal of the application voltage. Although such a memory device must be combined with a switching element for increasing the capacity of a memory device, a straightforward method has not been proposed in which the characteristics of the organic material are utilized.